The Social Science Statistics Blog has an entry about a recent article describing 51% of women now living without a spouse. Here is an excerpt:
“Fully understanding the assumptions and limitations of a study is challenging enough for those performing the research. In some ways, the journalists’ job is harder, finding lay language to summarize outcomes and implications without generalizing or ignoring uncertainty. I do not envy them the task.
Byron Calame, the public editor of the New York Times, recently discussed his paper’s presentation of a study about marital status. On January 16, the front page read, “51% of Women are Now Living Without Spouse.” Calame’s response noted that in the study, “women” included females aged 15 and older; the Census set the lower bound at 15 to catch all married women. The original article did not call attention to the fact that teenagers living at home were counted as single women.”